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First Posted: 11/26/2013 DURYEA &#8212; Borough Street Supervisor Gino Marriggi didn&#8217;t bother opening the garage doors before firing up his new compressed natural gas-powered, CNG, recycling truck for a demonstration group of local and state officials
&#8220;It&#8217;s just water vapor,&#8221; said the salesman from Pocono Peterbilt, Ron McHale.
McHale coordinates natural-gas engine sales for the company based in Bartonsville.
Borough officials gave demonstrations Tuesday of the new truck funded heavily through a state Department of Environmental Protection recycling grant.
The truck emits almost no particulate matter, so there&#8217;s no black smoke, and it burns fuel in the form of compressed natural gas stored in cylinders behind the cab.
The trickiest part, planners said, was installing a fueling system for the truck. Natural gas is not a liquid and must be pumped from utility lines below the ground, compressed and moved into the truck&#8217;s tanks.
$212,000 price tag
The truck cost about $212,000, and the grant paid for 90 percent of that. The borough paid $28,000 for the truck out of its own general fund, but DEP could not issue the grant until Duryea had a way to put gas in the tank.
It works out that McHale and UGI Utilities project manager Joe Bauman have been friends since childhood. Recently, the two have been helping other municipalities, namely Plains Township and Dupont, set up small natural-gas compressors near their public works buildings for fueling CNG vehicles that have been added to their fleets.
The small compressor behind the Duryea Borough Building cost $36,480 to install. The components needed had to be shipped in from Italy, Marriggi said.
The specific compressor, which taps into natural gas utility pipes in front of the building, takes about eight hours to fill the truck&#8217;s tanks, but the bottom line is hard to beat.
The borough pays $1.55 per gallon of gas and mileage nearly matches that of the borough&#8217;s diesel trucks &#8212; between 5 and 6 mpg.
Domestic fuel
The best part about running this truck is that it runs on domestic fuel, gas that is piped down directly from Pennsylvania&#8217;s Marcellus Shale natural-gas reserves, Bauman said.
&#8220;We&#8217;re drinking our own milk,&#8221; Marriggi chimed in.
Duryea Councilman Frank Groblewski began discussing adding a CNG truck with Borough Manager Lois Morreale about three years ago when he heard of the great success his son, who lives in California, was having with his personal CNG vehicle.
In California, CNG is more readily available to consumers in the form of frequent fast-fill pumps at regular gas stations. Groblewski said that weekly, when he spoke with his son, often the conversation turned to his pickup truck&#8217;s efficiency. Groblewski said he knew it was an option they should consider for the borough.
&#8220;He said it was the greatest thing he ever did,&#8221; Groblewski said.

Duryea unveils CNG truck